Estimating Impact of Configuration Changes

1. A computer-implemented method for estimating an impact of a software patch in a database environment, comprising: under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, providing a production database in a production environment; performing, with an enterprise application, a plurality of transactions to generate a production dataset in the production database; recording, in the production database, the plurality of transactions with a database application testing program; providing a first test database in a first test environment, the first test environment having a configuration similar to the production environment; replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database within the first test environment to produce a first test dataset; measuring a first set of one or more performance indicators associated with replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database, the first set of one or more performance indicators comprising at least one performance indicator other than structured query language (“SQL”) performance; providing a second test database in a modified test environment, the modified test environment having been modified from the first test environment by applying a software patch to at least one component of the first test environment; replaying the plurality of transactions in the second test database within the modified test environment to produce a second test dataset; measuring a second set of one or more performance indicators associated with replaying the plurality of transactions in the second test database, the second set of one or more performance indicators comprising at least one performance indicator other than SQL performance; comparing one or performance indicators in the first set of performance indicators with one or more performance indicators in the second set of performance indicators; and estimating an impact of applying the software patch to the production environment based at least in part on replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database and the second test database and on a comparison of one or more performance indicators in the first set of performance indicators with one or more performance indicators in the second set of performance indicators.

2. A computer-implemented method for estimating an impact of a configuration change in a database environment, comprising: under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, recording, in a first database, a plurality of transactions; replaying the plurality of transactions in at least one test database; measuring at least one set of one or more performance indicators associated with replaying the plurality of transactions in the at least one test database, each set of one or more performance indicators comprising at least one performance indicator other than structured query language (“SQL”) performance; and estimating an impact of a configuration change in a production database environment based at least in part on the at least one set of one or more performance indicators.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein: the at least one test database is a plurality of test databases comprising a first test database and a second test database; replaying the plurality of transactions comprises replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database and replaying the plurality of transactions in the second test database; measuring at least one set of one or more performance indicators comprises measuring a first set of one or more performance indicators associated with replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database and measuring a second set of one or more performance indicators associated with replaying the plurality of transactions in the second test database; and estimating an impact of a configuration change in a production database comprises comparing one or more performance indicators in the first set of performance indicators with one or more performance indicators in the second set of performance indicators.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the production database environment comprises the first database.

5. A computer-implemented method for estimating an impact of a configuration change in a database environment, comprising: under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, recording, in a production database in a production environment, a plurality of transactions; providing a first test database in a first test environment; replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database within the first test environment to produce a first test dataset; providing a second test database in a modified test environment at least by modifying a configuration of the first test environment to model the configuration change in the production environment; replaying the plurality of transactions in the second test database within the modified test environment to produce a second test dataset; and estimating an impact of a configuration change in the production environment based at least in part on replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database and the second test database.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising providing an output to a user, the output indicating an estimate of the impact of the configuration change in the production environment.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the first test database and the second test database are the same database.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein modifying a configuration of the first test environment comprises modifying a relational database management system that manages the first test database.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein modifying a relational database management system comprises upgrading the relational database management system from an older version to a newer version.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein modifying a relational database management system comprises modifying one or more operating parameters of the relational database management system.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein modifying a relational database management system comprises implementing the relational database management system in a clustered configuration.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein modifying a configuration of the first test environment comprises modifying an operating system of a computer system on which the first test database is located.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein modifying a configuration of the first test environment comprises modifying a hardware configuration of a computer system on which the first test database is located.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein modifying a configuration of the first test environment comprises modifying an enterprise application that is operable to store data in the first test database.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising: measuring a first set of one or more performance indicators associated with replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database; and measuring a second set of one or more performance indicators associated with replaying the plurality of transactions in the second test database.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 , wherein estimating an impact of a configuration change in the production environment comprises comparing one or more performance indicators in the first set of one or more performance indicators with a corresponding one or more indicators in the second set of one or more performance indicators.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 , wherein the first set of one or more performance indicators and the second set of one or more performance indicators each comprising at least one of transactions per second, processor utilization, memory usage, memory swapping, or number of structured query language code executions.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein: replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database comprises executing a first set of one or more SQL statements; replaying the plurality of transactions in the second test database comprises executing a second set of one or more SQL statements; and estimating an impact of a configuration change in the production environment comprises comparing one or more SQL statements in the first set of one or more SQL statements with one or more SQL statements in the second set of one or more SQL statements.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 , wherein estimating an impact of a configuration change in the production environment comprises comparing at least a portion of the first test dataset in the first test database with at least a portion of the second test dataset in the second test database.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein recording a plurality of transactions comprises recording the plurality of transactions using a database application testing program.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20 , wherein replaying the plurality of transactions comprises replaying the plurality of transactions using the database application testing program.

22. A computer system for measuring an impact of a configuration change in a database environment, comprising: one or more processors; and memory, including instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the computer system to at least: record, in a production database in a production environment, a plurality of transactions; replay the plurality of transactions in the first test database within the first test environment to produce a first test dataset; replay the plurality of transactions in the second test database within the modified test environment to produce a second test dataset; and estimate an impact of a configuration change in the production environment based at least in part on replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database and the second test database.

23. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, enable the computer system to at least: record, in a production database in a production environment, a plurality of transactions; replay the plurality of transactions in the first test database within the first test environment to produce a first test dataset; replay the plurality of transactions in the second test database within the modified test environment to produce a second test dataset; and estimate an impact of a configuration change in the production environment based at least in part on replaying the plurality of transactions in the first test database and the second test database.